johnson seemed to put them away, and at one point ted sorenson sent a wonderful note, johnson appointed kennedy to some third or fourth of tier, you know, boston harbor dredging commission or something, so sorenson said in the letter, we're making great progress. you know, senator johnson has named you the chairman of the boston harbor dredging commission. so it was a wary, competitive relationship. but in the end i think johnson came to respect kennedy as a tough, formidable politician. didn't think he was a real heavy hitter on policy, but he thought he was a real compelling political figure. >> john shaw, did president kennedy's senate career benefit him as president? >> i think it did. i think he understood the issues, the foreign policy issues very well. he really had a good schooling in that. i think he developed an appreciation for how congress worked. he spent 14 years in the congress. but he was very clear that he wanted to move on to the presidency and, in fact, became only the second u.s. senator, sitting u.s. senator to win the presidency. before him the only one who had don